


Take a Breath

by ColorTheWorld



Series: Don't Scare Me Like That! [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng Fluff, Chat sacrifices himself again, Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, One Shot, Post Reveal, Sequel, Short & Sweet, Stand Alone Sequel, cuz i'm good like that, or - Freeform, pre-reveal, some ladynoir, sorta - Freeform, you can read it how you want
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2020-03-04 23:07:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18822619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ColorTheWorld/pseuds/ColorTheWorld
Summary: Sequel to Don't Scare Me Like That! But can also be a stand-alone.Once again, Chat throws himself into danger, and Mari has a difficult time handling it. Comfort and fluff ensue.





	Take a Breath

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back again! I loved Don't Scare Me Like That, and I started to want to continue it. So this was born. I thought it was shorter than the first one, but it's actually a little longer (not by much). So that's cool. :) Enjoy!

Her heart stopped.

Sound faded away until it was no more than muffled and distant white noise.

Time slowed down.

She felt as though the air became sludge. Her body could no longer move with the same efficiency and maneuverability. She was too slow. She couldn’t get to him fast enough.

She watched in horror as Chat sailed clean over the edge of the Eiffel Tower landing.

Without his baton.

And she could do nothing to help him.

The akuma managed to vanish his baton only a minute ago when Chat attempted to free Ladybug from the akuma’s hold. After that, he still had her pinned to the ground and was about to take her miraculous when Chat gave up thought and dove.

Both he and the akuma went over the edge.

Ladybug was free.

But Chat Noir was once again…gone.

She scrambled to her feet, raced to edge, kneeled, and peered over the edge, hoping against hope that she wouldn’t see an ant sized splat far below her.

Air came rushing into her lungs with the relief of the reality that he was currently sliding down a beam to a joint in the frame structure. He stopped, stood, and turned to face her. He grinned wildly and freely. He looked insane. And yet she had never felt so much like crying from relief before.

She flung her yoyo around a nearby beam and dropped down to him. She landed and slipped down towards him a bit. He caught her. Of course he did. And instead of straightening and backing away from him, she threw her arms around him and held him as tight as she possibly could. If he wasn’t also in a super suit, he would have had a broken back.

He only froze for an instant before returning her hug.

That’s when she let slip a wretched sob, so loud and so, so unintentional. She was barely aware she was crying; she just knew she needed to hold her breath or something she didn’t want to come out would come out. And she was right. The moment she couldn’t hold her breath any longer, the sob broke through.

He quickly pulled her away to hold her at arms’ length and looked at her directly. His surprise softened, and he began to wipe her tears away. “Oh, Bug. What am I going to do with you? This time wasn’t even that bad. Why are you crying, huh?”

She sniffed and gently batted his hands away so she could wipe away her own snot and tears. “I don’t know. All I know is my heart stopped when you flew over the edge, and I couldn’t do anything!” She sniffed loudly. “Why do you always do this to me? Why do you do those things? What if something really bad happened to you?”

“Bug, we’ve discussed this. I’m always going to come running to save you. And if you can remember back about one minute ago, he was about to take your earrings.”

“I know.” Anger laced her tone, but she had to wipe at her eyes again. “But you still gave me a heart attack.”

He sighed heavily. “Come one, Bugaboo. Let’s go get that akuma. You can yell at me again later.”

 

…ooo…ooo…ooo…

 

Tonight, when he softly landed on her balcony, he decided he didn’t have the energy to waltz in like he normally did. They still needed to talk about… the thing…that night…the thing that happened two nights ago that both of them needed to think about. He took a deep breath and help it for a moment. He exhaled and walked towards her skylight. He tapped lightly.

It only took a few seconds for her to turn, see him, and motion to let him in.

He gently landed on her bed and descended to her main floor. Neither wanted to make eye contact.

“You did it again.” She whispered.

“I know.” He spoke softly. He gathered his courage and turned to face her. He opened his mouth to speak, but she stopped him. She took a step towards him.

“I know you’ll always save Paris, and I know you’ll always be there to save Ladybug. I just… I just wish that didn’t mean you having to constantly put yourself in danger.”

He nodded. “I know.”

They both sighed.

“I wish I could promise you that I’ll be more careful or that I’ll be safe. But…”

“I know.” They shared a bittersweet smile.

“Princess, how do I make this right? I don’t know what to say.”

She sighed and walked to her chaise to sit down. He followed and sat next to her. “I don’t know, Kitty. I think it’s just something I’m going to have to get used to. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stop worrying though.”

He nodded.

“Chat?”

“Hmm?”

She slipped her hand into his and locked her eyes on their hands. He could see a blush rising.

“I –,” It came out as a squeak. “I –“

“Princess, are you alright?” A sudden tear drop landed on her lap, and he startled. “Mari…” He gently lifted her face with his free hand.

“I’m in love with you.”

It was as though the phrase had floated through the air on a breeze. It was soft, barely heard, and brushed across his face as it merely meandered its way to his ears. By then, the breeze had dwindled to a breath, one with hardly enough power to reach his brain, and yet somehow, it did.

He inhaled a sharp breath, nearly choking on spit.

“What?” He whispered. “Did you just - ? Really?” His hand still holding her face gently brushed her cheek as he moved to cup her jaw.

She nodded, and he nearly felt like crying himself.

“I’m in love with you too.” He breathed. A watery smile slid onto each of their faces. “Mari, may I -?”

She gave the same adorable nod, and he swooped down to capture her lips. He didn’t freeze this time. He was finally able to respond to her.

Their kiss was just as soft and slow as their words had been. It wasn’t so much as a physical act as it was their two hearts reaching and connecting and melding. It was a kiss that awakened every nerve in the body and shut down the brain. It was a kiss that filled him with an emotion to the point he was overflowing and had to pull away.

“Mari,” he breathed. “Mari, Mari, Mari.” He pulled her close and breathed her in.  “What are we ever going to do with each other, huh?”

She shook her head against his chest in answer and nestled closer.

**Author's Note:**

> It's been almost a year since I posted "Don't Scare Me Like That," and I re-read it and kept thinking about it. So I wrote this.  
> (Disclaimer: I couldn't figure out how to end this one. So it feels really... unsatisfying to me. Suggestions would probably help.)
> 
> I wanted to keep going with the it-could-go-both-ways either post reveal or pre-reveal, which got tricky to keep. So if I continue with this more in the future, I'm gonna just have to pick one. 
> 
> Part of me wants to turn this into a full on multi-chapter fic (It'd still be fairly short tho), but I don't know. Maybe that will be my summer project. 
> 
> I love this fic series. It's so fun when you actually really like and enjoy something you made yourself. This happens very rarely for me.  
> I hope you all liked it too :)
> 
> If you want to make my day, please comment! Kudos are good too :)  
> Also, constructive criticism or feedback is very much appreciated! Also, I didn't proofread this one as much as normal, so let me know if i have stupid mistakes.


End file.
